Comparative and Superlative 2

A. Comparative and Superlative with adverbs

Quando il comparativo e il superlativo relativo riguardano un avverbio invece di un
aggettivo, seguite le seguenti regole:
When the comparative and superlative concern an adverb instead of an adjective,
observe the following rules:

1. With LY adverbs (adverbs formed from adjectives by adding -ly to the end) we
get the comparative and superlative forms with more and the most.
Con gli avverbi che si ottengono aggiungendo –ly, formiamo il comparativo e il
superlativo con more e the most.

Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb

quiet quietly more quietly the most quietly
rapid rapidly more rapidly the most rapidly
happy happily more happily the most happily

Today Mark works more happily than yesterday.

Lucy walks the most rapidly of all the girls in the group.
Max works more quietly than Steve does.
Jeff works the most quietly of all the students.
Rosy drives more carefully than Mary does.
Of the three girls, Rosy is the one who drives the most carefully.

2. With other Adverbs.

With the adverbs which have the same form as the adjective, we add -er to form the
comparative and the -est to form the superlative.
Con gli avverbi che hanno la stessa forma dell’aggettivo, si aggiunge -er per formare
il comparativo e the -est per formare il superlativo.

Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb

hard hard harder the hardest
fast fast faster the fastest
early early earlier the earliest

Max, work harder!

Philip works the hardest.
Lucy runs faster than Mary.
Lucy runs the fastest of all the girls in the team.
John gets up earlier than me.
Among us John gets up the earliest.

Irregular Adverbs.

Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb

good well better the best
bad badly worse the worst
far far Farther/further the farthest/furthest

Steve plays chess better than Jack.

Steve plays chess the best.
My team did worse on the test than yours.
On that test, my team did the worst in the school.
Ted threw the javalin farther than Bob.
Ted threw the javalin the farthest of all.

B. Comparative and Superlative with nouns

Quando il comparativo e il superlativo relativo riguardano un sostantivo usiamo
sempre more, the most:
When the comparative and superlative concern a noun, we always use more, the
most:

I have more books than you.

This is the bookshop which has the most books in town.
Cleo has more savings than Irene

C. Comparative and Superlative with verbs

Quando il comparativo e il superlativo relativo riguardano un verbo usiamo sempre
more, the most:
When the comparative and superlative concern a verb, we always use more, the
most:

You need to walk more if you want to keep fit.

Greg studies more than me.
Paul is the one who spends the most.

Special Forms
1. To say that something is changing continuously (progressive comparisons):
Per esprimere un’azione in continuo cambiamento (sempre più…):

Tom became angrier and angrier.

Tom became more and more anxious.
The stars grew brighter and brighter.
The stars grew more and more brilliant.
The plane flew higher and higher.
The team performer better and better.
He solved the problems more and more easily.
We visited them more and more frequently.
He solved the problems less and less easily.
We visited them less and less frequently

It’s becomking more and more difficult to find a job.

Your English is improving. It’s getting better and better.
These days more and more people are learning English.
2. We use the construction “The ..., the ...” to say that as one thing changes,
another thing also changes:
Usiamo la costruzione “The ..., the ...” (quanto più…tanto più…/ più…più…) per dire
che quando una cosa cambia, ne cambia anche un’altra:

The warmer the weather, the better I feel.

The sooner we leave, the sooner we will arrive.
The younger you are, the easier it is to learn.
The more expensive is the hotel, the better the service.
The more electricity you use, the higher your bill will be.
The more they eat, the fatter they get.
The faster we walked, the warmer we felt.
The more I scold her, the worse she behaves.

3. In English, the superlative referring to only two objects or persons is expressed

by “the + comparative”.
In inglese, il superlativo relativo riferito a due sole cose o persone si rende con il
comparativo preceduto dall’articolo.

Which is the more interesting of these two books?

This is the shorter of the two tests.
She is the taller of the two girls.
The first one is the more boring of the two films.

4. Watch out:
Mary is taller than me.
Mary is taller than I am.

Both sentences are correct. You use the subject personal pronouns after than only
when it is followed by a verb, otherwise we use the complement personal pronouns.
Entrambi le frasi sono corrette. Si usano i pronomi personali soggetto dopo il than
solo quando sono seguiti dal verbo, altrimenti si usano i pronomi personali
complemento.

*Interactive Exercises
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom1.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom2.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom3.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom5.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom4.htm
http://www.learnenglish.de/Games/Adjectives/CompSup.htm
http://english.baladre.org/sedaviwebfront/adjecomp1.htm
http://english.baladre.org/sedaviwebfront/AdjecompList1.htm
http://www.curso-ingles.com/ejercicios-test-ingles/comparativos.php
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/michel.barbot/hotpot/comparaison/comp2/exo6.htm

*Please note the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLE5yPZa_Ow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo6w_Lfurvw&feature=fvsr